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TRAVELLER
52 Issue 563. July 2014
T
he Samariá Gorge
trail is high in Crete’s
wild mountains,
50km from Chania
(pronounced hahn-
yah). It promotes itself
as the best gorge walk in Europe. Who am I
to refute such a robust, albeit unverifiable,
claim? However, it is breathtaking – in
both senses of the word.
Walkers should arrive early to avoid
the heat and crowds. I am fortunate to
arrive on a beautiful spring morning.
Samariá is the second most visited Cretan
site, attracting 250,000 visitors each year.
In scorching summer as many as 2000
hikers walk in close single file. Boarding
the 6:45am bus from Chania in darkness,
I later witness sunrise over the steep-sided
mountains. My bus window fills with deep
valleys and pointed peaks, then blurs as
the rollercoaster executes 300° bends.
Suddenly we are in a pudding bowl – the
productive Omalos plateau – sharing the
road with goats and sheep while briefly
stopping for a driver-farmer greeting. The
road ends at Xyloskalo (path), a tourist
café/shop servicing the entrance to the
national park.
I wonder what I get for the €5 entrance
fee. The path starts with smooth stone
steps and solid handrails. Every couple of
kilometres there is a duty ranger with a
donkey watching the processions in the
shade near a natural spring. There’s a picnic
spot and toilets and also a brick shelter
in case of bushfire. Maybe the donkey is
a mountain ambulance, but that’s more
hiking assistance than I’m used to.
Western Crete’s White Mountains, of
which the gorge is a part, have always
been a remote and impenetrable place,
often used by fighters in times of conflict.
The Samariá National Park was established
Steppingoutin
Tim Dawe rock hops
his way through one
of Europe’s greatest
gorge walks.
Words & Photography: Tim Dawe
SAMARIÁ